I'm heading to Orlando Florida over the Christmas period, and am looking to buy myself some treats while over there, and take them back as luggage, saves on P&P charges and gives me an option to deal with sellers who wont ship outside the states. I'm going to contact the hotel and ask if some goods can be delivered, and to see if they will hold onto them for me until I arrive. I will be there for one week and I'm presuming that the mail system may be overloaded around the Christmas, and it might be better to order the gear in advance, to make sure its all delivered before I leave.
I'm thinking of a couple of Chugger pumps, possibly a bottling wand and maybe a false bottom for my 10 gallon Igloo cooler. Are there any suggestions that I might have missed out on, that are either only available in the states or substantially cheaper over there?
Levis >:(
It tends to be the big ticket items that get my interest on the American homebrew shop sites. Stuff like mash tuns, boilers, kegerators etc.
Would you consider some of the cool Blichmann stuff - that's got to be cheaper buying directly - beer gun, hop rocket, plate chiller..?
I should have pointed out that I currently BIAB but I have a 10 gallon cooler and 2x60 lt kegs for conversion to HLT and Boil kettle, I have a preference for BSP fittings as I don't like the exposed threads on the NPT fittings but there are much more brewing fittings available in NPT. I can get elbows bends etc here but I reckon pickup/dip tubes are better over there, plus sight glass no weld kits etc
Bearing in mind that the items have to fit into a standard suitcase, and asDelzep has pointed out I'll need to include a few pairs of jeans :-)
I'm trying to avoid someone telling me when I get back "Oh you should have picked up an XXXX while you were there, they're a quarter of the price here!!" ;D
I'd go for one of those keg filter thingys for dry hopping in the keg that the US shops sell.
@SA - a few things on this link might be of interest: http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Strainers-False-Bottoms_c_18.html
All there connections for corny kegs, taps,seals, poppets ( universal) dirt cheap.
If your going gas maybe one of those blichman burners can't get em here don't think.
I will pm u my list ;D
Thanks for the suggestions lads, I found this place in Orlando
http://heartshomebrew.com/
Can you grab the 23ltr oak barrel O0
And sail back in it?
Well you would be saving on flight ! Win win
Stay away from the beer gun, more hassle than there worth. Go counter pressure filler.
Thanks Lordstilton, I'll have a look at them, on another note I found an old 110V portable site transformer hidden in the back of my shed, I may incorporate that into the brew frame giving me an option on 110 v Chuggers, which are easier to pick up stateside and that bit safer
On the conversation of filling units quickish question about filling......when fermentation is complete i crash cool to 2C then i steralize keg purge with Co2 and then transfere from fermenter .........when keg full place lid and purge any remaining oxygen in head space.....question is....when i connect keg to c02 with 35psi over 3.5 mins i shake the bejaysus ot of the keg to help dissolve gas into solution so im woundering if this is gonna cause me haze issues and head retention issues later ? I read that after beer foams in container it causes issues but not sure if the pressure will stop this.... O0
If reckon a gentle rocking back and forward while carbonating is a better option than shaking the bejasus out of it
This site would be lost without ye your an absolute genius :D
Here's a copy of a Powerpoint presentation page, I found
Aims of the packaging process
Filling while keeping oxygen levels down
Cardboard flavours, cooked biscuity
Risk of haze increase
Keep temperature down.
fobbing beer can produce haze, pick up residual oxygen and makes volumetric control difficult
Correct pressures to prevent fobbing
Eliminate risk of micro spoilage – leads to off - flavours, haze – need stringent hygienic standards
Sterile filter or pasteurise followed by aseptic fill or pasteurise in package
Speed depends on capital cost. A 176 head filler can handle 2000 500ml cans a minute
Efficiency, output, losses, energy and detergent usage
Beer right first time – high cost of packaging materials
The fobbing part = shaking the bejaysus out of keg to help inject CO2 O0
Hearts Homebrew is a fantastic spot, a real Aladdin's cave. I had emailed the owner beforehand and he had my Chuggers waiting for me. I picked up lots of bits including a domed false bottom for my cooler mash tun. The owner Luke says they will accommodate anyone travelling out for holidays and will order in anything for you and ship to your hotel if necessary or you can pick up in the store. They will ship overseas but said that USPS have stopped using shipping and have changed to airmail which had jacked up the costs considerably.
I headed to Home Depot this morning and picked up 3 x 5.5 kW ultra low density elements which were on special offer at $17 each, I took their full stock :-)